A Separate Peace is a captivating novel compounded by a genius.  This brilliant author, John Knowles, not only wrote a wonderful story, but he smothered it in symbolism.  The comparisons that can be made seem all but numberless.  One of the more fascinating comparisons would be the resemblance between the significant tree in the novel, and the tree in the center of the Garden of Eden.  The reason behind this interest is the way the two trees can be compared at two different times, depending of the point of view.

The foremost case of this relationship between the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil and the tree in A Separate Peace occurs when Gene and Finny jumped from the tree for the first time.  In many ways, the reason for jumping was more than just something to occupy their time.  ...